What is Microsoft Azure?

Microsoft Azure is a growing set of cloud-based computing services for enterprises, developers, government organisations, and anybody else who wants to build an app or run a business on the internet without having to install and manage hardware or server software. In recent years, it has exceeded both Windows and Office in terms of sales, making it Microsoft's fastest-growing business area.

"The cloud is just someone else's computer," cynics like to say, dismissing the entire concept of cloud computing. However, that oversimplification only captures a small element of the Azure business: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), which replaces physical hardware with cloud-based services.

Microsoft Azure's comprehensive suite of services covers a lot more territory. rather than merely transferring on-premises servers to the cloud You have a comprehensive range of Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS) options in addition to IaaS resources, providing your organisation access to cloud-based services without the need to manage a server. You may set up a WordPress website or a basic Node JS site without having to setup (or patch) the underlying Windows or Linux server, for example. Additionally, creators of apps, web-based sites, and services can use Azure storage and services as building blocks without worrying about the underlying infrastructure's security or stability.

Azure was announced by Microsoft in 2008. Windows Azure was released to the public two years later, in January 2010. Microsoft In 2014, Microsoft rebranded its cloud platform as Azure. The name change wasn't merely aesthetic; it was a recognition that Azure's cloud services had expanded far beyond Windows-based products. On late 2017, Microsoft announced that Linux was running on 40% of all virtual machines in Azure, up from less than a third a year earlier.

The Azure Global Infrastructure spans 140 nations and comprises data centres in 60 datacenter regions. Microsoft also has two Azure Government Secret zones, both of which are located in unidentified locations.

What are Microsoft Azure's advantages?

The most obvious advantage of Azure's IaaS products is that you don't have to acquire, configure, manage, or repair hardware in order to execute cloud-based applications. Savings begin with the price.

However, they include a much larger number of indirect costs, such as the physical space needed to house the servers and the electricity needed to keep them running.

Because Azure resources are virtual, they aren't susceptible to hardware failures, which might create downtime while you wait for repairs or a replacement. Virtual hardware resources may scale up and down in a way that physical hardware cannot, allowing an Azure-based website to handle abrupt spikes in demand. Large enterprises can easily shift data and services to a region of their choice to meet worldwide privacy regulations for data storage and transmission.

Azure provides developers with immediate access to resources for developing mobile apps, designing IoT devices, and more. Using container technology to connect to internet storage and database resources. Microsoft has also made significant investments in machine learning and AI tools for developers.